Against the Odds
by cragenfan
Summary: This story will begin immediately prior to A New Hope, where it goes from there remains to be seen. Lord Vader receives a new mission and a surpise.
1. The Mission

I am making no money off of this fic and all familiar characters belong to George Lucas, Lucasfilms et al.

**Night of Princess Leia's trip to Aldaraan**

Captain Piatt, Please inform Lord Vader that I desire his presence in the Throne Room.

"Right away, sire."

"Lord Vader, I have special task requiring your particular skills."

"Yes Master?"

"I want you to track every member of the senate until we dissolve the body as a whole.

It will allow us to find out whom, if any of our senators are disloyal and are planning to rebel."

"Everything you ask shall be done, master."

"What will be your first move?"

"My plan is to watch what the remnants of the security holograms from the Jedi temple, see what the Senators were doing during the takeover. That should narrow down the list of suspect senators."

"Very well, may the force be with you."

"And with you as well, master."

**Imperial command ship, same day **

Captain. Piatt set our course for the Coruscant system

"Right away, M'lord"

I have something to take care of on the other side of the ship, let me know immediately if you see any diplomatic vessels on the radar.

"Certainly M'lord."

Nothing other than routine traffic was seen on the scopes for little over an hour when a lieutenant spotted something unusual on the radar. Captain Piatt we've got something strange on the scopes, sir."

"What sector Lt. Durant?"

"Sector 12 sir, they're heading on a direct course for Alderaan."

"Have you been able to identify it lieutenant?"

"Yes sir, it's a diplomatic ship heading for Aldaraan according to the flight plan entered on Coruscant."

"Keep an eye on it lieutenant, I must inform lord Vader."

**45 minutes later opposite side of the ship**

"Lord Vader, Lt Durant found a diplomatic ship on the scopes heading for Alderaan."

"Order a squadron of ships to pursue it and get my shuttle ready. Keep the rest of the fleet on course for Coruscant along with the command ship."

"Yes M'lord."

With that, Vader turned and headed for the ship's armory. Inside, General Veers was ordering a battalion sized boarding party to refit and rearm. Upon seeing Vader, Veers walked over to him, ready to report. "Lord Vader, our army is ready for when we board the ship."

"Good." Vader replied, "they will be in range of our guns within moments, general. When they arrive, I trust you can take care of them,"

Veers nodded. "As you wish my lord."

Veers expected Vader to leave, but he didn't. In fact, Vader continued. "General, should you detect any senators, or anyone else of importance of a diplomatic occupation, I want them alive! You can do what you want with the rest. Just make sure you choose your best marksman for this mission general. It would be unfortunate if I were to have a little 'accident,' wouldn't you agree?"

"I agree my lord. Everything will be done as asked."

With that, Vader turned and left.

**TBC , Please read and review as this is my first star wars fic. **


	2. the Chase: Part I

**My co-author and I do not make any money or any other compensation off this fic. All star wars characters and dialogue belong to George Lucas. This is written purely for fun. Please read and review in order to improve this fic. **

"Your Highness," a panicking aide screamed, shattering the princess' train of thought. "Imperial Star Destroyers have come out of hyperspace in our sector"!

The Princess has a quick and rude response for those who dared attack a diplomatic ship.

"Damn!"

"They'll be here in minutes, what should we do?" asked the aide.

Leia sighed. "Man the guns, prepare to be boarded, have an infantry squad guard the entrances to the ship, and hope that whoever's behind this is in a good mood."

That didn't bring the aide much comfort, but he accepted it.

As soon as this situation was handled, engine control called for orders. "Your highness, should we get the engines ready to evade the Star Destroyers?"

"Yes, maintain as fast and evasive a speed and course as possible Leia ordered. "The more they believe we have nothing left to hide, the better." Suddenly the ship was hit in the engine area. "Engine control, change it, the main reactor will be shut down but set a slow and steady course for the Star Destroyer's hanger bay."

The head officer down in engine control responded promptly, "Right away Your Highness."

The far door exploded as Leia was jettisoning a decoy escape pod, prior to loading the vital plans for the Imperial Death Star into R2-D2. As that happened, She thought to herself 'Good the squad of infantry at the door is going into action.' However as time went on, the blaster fire slowed and then stopped. The Princess knew her capture by the Imperials was only a matter of time.

**After the capture of the princess **

Darth Vader, only you could be so bold. The imperial senate will not sit still for this! When they hear you attacked a diplomatic-

" Don't act so surprised your highness, you weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by rebel spies, I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you!"

Leia played dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm a member of the Imperial senate on a diplomatic mission to Aldaraan."

Finally losing his temper, Vader yelled, "You are part of the rebel alliance and a traitor, take her away!" He then walked away with the commander next to him.

"Holding her is dangerous," he said. "If word of this gets out it could generate sympathy for the rebellion in the senate."

"I have traced the rebel spies to her," Vader explained. "Now she is my only link to finding their secret base."

"She'll die before she'll tell you anything."

"Leave that to me. Send a distress signal, and inform the senate that all aboard were killed."

An Imperial officer came up to him. "Lord Vader, battle station plans are not aboard this ship, and no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, no lifeforms were aboard."

Vader smiled behind his black breathing helmet. "She must've hidden the plans in the escape pod. Send a detachment to retrieve them, and see to it personally, there will be no one to stop us this time."

"Yes sir."

The Star Destroyer flew away, with their prize senator on her way to the Death Star.

**On the Death Star **

Leia was especially resistant to every form of torture the Empire put her through, even their vaunted mind probes. However, that successful resistance proved to be her undoing. She was unprepared for the Empire to use her own diplomatic and compassionate belief system against her. Little did she realize that Governor Tarkin would destroy everything and everyone she held dear in order to extract the information from her about the Rebel's secret base. Every word she released to them was either barb or misleading. She managed to squeeze out the name of the planet Datooine, doing it solely to avoid Alderaan from being blown to smithereens. The Princess could only watch in helpless shock, as Aldaraan, the Organas, and everything she held dear and fought for erupted in gigantic ball of fire and dust.

But, she had greater strength in her convictions then the Imperial high command had gambled. Even under such excruciating psychological warfare, she never betrayed the rebellion. Every word she released to them was either a barb or misleading. Even though she had saved the Alliance in the short term, she knew it was only a matter of time before Vader learned she had lied to them.

**Two weeks after the Destruction of Alderaan**

M'lord a scout has returned from Datooine.

A commander entered the briefing room.

"Yes?" Tarkin and Vader were there, waiting for word of from the scouts.

"Our scout ships have reached Datooine." The commander explained. "They have found the remains of a Rebel base but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search around the surrounding systems."

Shock filled Tarkin's face. "She lied, she lied to us."

"I told you," Vader said, "She would never consciously betray the rebellion."

Moff Tarkin was silent for a minute, and then said, "Terminate her, immediately."


End file.
